England – Newcastle Upon Tyne

May 29

We traveled north to Newcastle Upon Tyne. It was an interesting three hour train ride. We had to race to the train to get luggage space. There wasn’t much room for extra luggage but we were lucky and found space. The train was overbooked, and people who didn’t reserve a seat were forced to stand. Some were not happy about it. Lucky for us, Mike reserved our seats in advance. 

Newcastle is a partially updated, old town with some modern structures. We noticed the streets are dirtier than London streets, but this also feels like a very different place than London. As we walked around, we noticed there were a lot of drunk people wandering the streets and pub-hopping early Sunday afternoon. Mike remembered that the next day is a Bank holiday, so maybe it’s not like this every Sunday. He later read that public drunkness is more acceptable here than in the U.S. We also noticed that everyone here smokes.

The Newcastle castle is cool. It was built in the year 1100 AD over the site of a previous wooden castle. One gate and the main tower still stand. It was closed for tours when we arrived but we might check it out the next day. Mike and I explored the streets of Newcastle. We found a couple of fun pubs for lunch and early dinner. For dinner, we tried meat pies again. I love them. When we order beer, we just guess and pick a taps handle that looks interesting. I was surprised when I tasted one and realized I had ordered a cider. It was lovely and refreshing.

We returned to the room early, after enjoying dessert in the hotel bar, and called it a day.